To Love a Rose
by KATTALNUVA
Summary: Sequel to Rose and The Masked Alchemist. While Nick is off another mission, Rose begins to question the nature of their relationship, when the unexpected happens. Just couldn't get it out of my head.
1. The Lovers

It was a bright sunny afternoon in Reole. Rose Thomas couldn't help but think about how far the city had come since the days of Cornello. She was on her way home from work, when suddenly she was pulled into a nearby alley. Before she could scream she felt a person's lips locking with her own. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Nick Ripley, the Masked Alchemist.

"Nick?"

Not long after Reole was visited by the Elric brothers, the city erupted into a civil war between Cornello's followers, and those that had deserted the order. This compounded with Rose's own grief at the knowledge that Cornello's promises had been false, and that she was never going to see her boyfriend ever again. She wanted to end it all, but couldn't find the courage to do so. Since she was unable to take her own life, she resolved to let nature do it for her, so she walked naked into the eastern desert that separated Amestris from Xing. She kept walking until she passed out. When she woke up she found herself in the custody of the infamous bounty hunter known as the Masked Alchemist. Not willing to let her just throw her life away, the Masked Alchemist dragged her across the desert and into Xing while he pursued a fugitive that turned out to be a human chimera. During that time Rose figured the Masked Alchemist to be a bitter middle-aged man, but during the fight with the chimera he lost his mask, and it turned out that he wasn't much older than she was. Along the way Rose had time to reflect on all the things in life she still wanted to do, if not for Nick she wouldn't have lived to do those things, that combined with his surprisingly good looks was probably why she had sex with him when he was escorting her back to Reole. Ever since then he always dropped by once in a while o he and Rose could fool around, but he usually gave her a bit more warning than this."

"Sorry, but we don't have much time, and I couldn't wait for you to get home. We're going to have to do it right here."

"What?"

Before Rose could protest, he kissed her hard on the mouth. It had been some time since their last "session", and so she began to melt in his arms, then she felt one of his hands reaching into her shirt and the other reaching up under her skirt. Her heart started racing and every single nerve of her body was burning with energy.

"No! We can't do this here."

"Why not?"

"Someone might see us."

"So?"

Whenever Rose and Nick fooled around it was always behind closed doors, they had never done anything like this.

"I don't want to be seen by anyone but you."

"But you're easily the most beautiful woman in town, and I kinda want to show off."

Rose almost screamed as she felt his fingers dig deeper into her, but he muffled it with another kiss.

"If you don't want us to be discovered you should try and keep it down."

He lifted up her shirt and began to suckle on her breasts. Being an experience bounty hunter, Nick knew how to read people, and he could tell that despite her protests Rose was actually enjoying this.

"_Oh my god… I'm really going to be seen."_

Without warning Nick lifted Rose off the ground, held her up against the wall, and she felt him inside of her. It could be that it had been nearly a month since the last time, or maybe it was because she was terrified of getting caught, but for some reason it felt better than usual.

"_I really wish I wasn't so pressed for time."_

He thrust himself deeper and deeper inside of her until they both collapsed to the ground from pleasure.

"You sick perverted pig…" said Rose still smiling with her face vividly pink "If you're going to do something like that to a girl you should at least buy her dinner first."

"I'd love to, but unfortunately I need to leave for another assignment."

"What, the last bounty wasn't big enough for you?"

"You know I don't do this for the money."

"I don't want you to go…"

"I promise I'll make it up to you. When I get back I'll take you to dinner and a show."

He gave her one last kiss and was off.

Rose walked the rest of the way home with her face all pink and looking positively euphoric. One person she passed along the way home asked if she had a fever, and another asked her if she had been drinking. Not too long ago she wanted to die, but on days like this she was glad to be alive. She had never done things like this with her late boyfriend, and no matter how fast things seemed to be happening with Nick, somehow that night at the hotel on the way back to Reole from Central just felt so right.

"_He was the first man to see me naked… which is really my fault to begin with… If I hadn't been in that desert I might've never met him."_

When Rose got home she found a bouquet of flowers waiting for her with a card attached.

**Sorry I couldn't stay longer.**

**(To be continued)**


	2. Surprise

The sun was beginning to set over the big apple. It had been a long day for the surviving duelists, and it was about to get even longer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the semi-finals! First Joey Wheeler will be going up against Mai Valentine, and then Yugi Moto will go up against Seto Kaiba in a rematch that's sure to leave everyone glued their seats!"

"And ours won't?" asked Mai.

"We'll stop their hearts."

As soon as the crowds were back in their seats, word went out for Joey and Mai to take the field.

"This should be good."

"I should hope so. The two of them haven't shut up about it since we got here." said Tristan.

"Let's duel!"

Joey and Mai's duel disks were supposed to synchronize with the scoreboard and with each other, but instead of the four digit total of life points something else came up instead.

**HAHA**

"What the…"

Suddenly some strange and overly dramatic sounding music began to play over the speakers. Yugi and the others couldn't place the exact instruments, music wasn't their area of expertise, but it sounded like an entire symphony was playing.

"What is that?" asked Yugi.

Just then Tea remembered where she had heard this song before. One of her dance instructors had once performed to a segment of this, and it was by far the most passionate thing she had ever seen.

"It's the Dante Symphony!"

"The what?"

Before Tea could answer, the unmistakable sound of gunshots being fired rang over the sound of the music, quickly followed by screaming. A man in a long black cloak and a crimson faceless mask came galloping into the stands on a horse that resonated with a pale green glow and started shooting at any security guards that came his way.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

"GET DOWN!" screamed Tristan throwing himself on top of the others.

The man on the horse made his way down to the arena and continued to shoot at any one that tried to stop him. Mai was already on the move and Joey rushed to protect her as the horse came jumping over the archway at the bottom of the stairs and touched down on the arena's floor. He dismounted his horse as more security guards came charging out into the ring, and from nowhere he produced a large blade and began hacking them to pieces. The crowds tried to flee, but the gates had been shut and locked tight. As they tried to force their way through the masked man finished the last of the security guards. He then spoke through the microphone in his mask.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

His voice was inaudible over all the shouting and screaming.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

Still no response.

"Alright… I tried being nice."

He pressed a button on his arm, and suddenly the skybox seats exploded along with his horse.

"SHUT UP!"

The crowds immediately fell silent.

"Is everyone… okay?" asked Yugi with his face pressed into the ground.

"I will be… as soon as Tristan get's his elbow out of my face." said Tea.

"Oh my god… oh my god… oh my god…" said Serenity.

"Now that I have your undivided attention, you're all probably wondering who I am and why I just shot all the security guards in the face or cut them to ribbons, and I'm pretty sure I also just killed your mayor and at least one of the heads of the five families. I could bore you with my life story, but since we're so pressed for time I think it'll sufice to say that I'm a bad man. You can call me Abaddon, and I'm here for your semi-finalists. You see, dueling is my favorite hobby. By now you've probably noticed that Rex Raptor, Weevil Underwood, and several other duelists have gone missing. That's because I killed them."

Abaddon pushed another button on his arm, and suddenly the screens all around the stadium showed Rex, Weevil, and other duelists begging for their lives before being locked in freezers, having their skulls crushed, or having some other violent end befall them.

"Oh my god..." said Yugi.

Weevil and Rex were jerks, that much was certain, but they didn't derseve what Yugi saw hadppened to them. Nobody deserved that.

"So... who want's to go first?" asked Abaddon.

Nobody moved.

"Well, don't everyone volunteer at once. I know what you're thinking, I just killed a lot of people in front of a live television audience, so New York's finest must be on their way, along with the FBI and just about every other agency you can think of. For this very reason I've taken the liberty of planting bombs all across the city, and attaching them to this."

Abaddon opened up his cloak, there was some kind of box strapped to his chest.

"The bombs I've placed across the city are linked to my heart rate monitor. If it flatlines for any reason, or if a single person leaves this stadium, the bombs will detonate. And just to show you that I'm not bluffing..."

Abaddon pressed another button on his arm, and the images on the screens around the stadium changed to the Statue of Liberty.

BOOM!

Right before their eyes Lady Liberty's head exploded. The echo was heard all across the city.

"From sea to shining sea!" sang Abaddon sarcastically "And just so you know, I've still got plenty of ammo left. Either we start dueling, or I start choping heads."

Abaddon turned his head at the sound of a child crying.

"What's going on over here?"

"No..."

Abaddon slowly walked over with his guns drawn.

"What's wrong? Spilled your ice cream?"

"God no... she can't be any more than seven." said Tea.

"You know... I tend to like my ice cream smothered in chocolate... of course I usually apply some food coloring to it."

"Leave them alone!"

"Joey!"

Abaddon immediately turned his attention.

"Ah... Joseph, the little duelist that could. You've come a very long way since Duelist Kingdom."

"Do I know you?"

"No... but I've been playing this game since before you touched your first card. I've always been around. The Regionals, Duelist Kingdom, Battle City... but not all of us have your luck."

"I'm curious... If you wanted to duel so badly, why didn't you just join the tournament like the rest of us?"

Abaddon laughed.

"I only duel worthy opponents, and I like to duel with an added twist... like this."

Without warning Abaddon chucked a small blade that grazed Joey's forearm.

"NO!"

When Joey looked at the cut it didn't look too bad, but then it started stinging, and he saw that there was some discoloration in the blood.

"What the hell did you do to me?"

"You've just been poisoned."

**To be continued**

**Next time: Joey vs. Abaddon**


	3. Hormones

Time seemed to have become a steady blur of nothing. Rose couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened to Nick, or the fact that she was carrying his baby. Another month had passed and she still hadn't heard any word from him. She just couldn't stand it. She needed to get out of Reole and talk to someone… anyone. Fortunately there was someone who surely must understand at least a little bit of the situation she was in. A few year ago Rose met Winry Rockbell when Alphonse Elric paid another visit to Reole, and they became fast friends. Rose could tell almost immediately that Winry had a special relationship with Ed, whom Rose knew was always off and about doing who knew what. Perhaps Winry could shed a little light on her problems, or at least help her talk it out. Despite the fact that it was a hot summer day in Resembool, Rose did not expect to find Winry wearing a white sun dress, with her being an automail mechanic.

"There you are!" said Winry giving her a hug "Long time no see, how is everything?"

"Boy do I have a story to tell you."

Rose was careful to leave out the part how she attempted to kill herself, instead she told Winry that during the riots in Reole several men tried to rape her and Nick came to her rescue.

"Was it love at first sight?"

"Not exactly. I was just relieved that not all men are animals."

Rose had been careful enough to rehearse this story beforehand. She said that Nick had been a traveler that just happened to be in town when everything went to hell, and that he stayed to protect her until things calmed down.

"And one night you just decided to have sex with him?"

"I don't know what happened… It was hot that night, I had just got out of the shower, I was only wearing a robe, he was there and… it just felt right."

"And…"

"Ever since that night he comes into town every once in a while and we… fool around."

"You never talked about him before."

"I wasn't sure just how I felt about him before… Now something's happened."

Winry had noticed that Rose had gained a little weight, but hadn't said anything. Now it was coming together.

"Are you pregnant?"

Rose didn't need a mood swing to start crying, but it came anyway.

"Yes! And it's been too months since I last saw or heard from him! What if he isn't coming back? What if he's found someone else? What if he's dead?"

It was a whole fifteen minutes before Rose stopped crying.

"Shh… it's okay." said Winry trying to calm her "I'm sure he's fine. Ed and Al are off on their adventures all the time, and I'm lucky if I ever get a single phone call."

"I can't go back to Reole… not right now… if I have to spend another night alone at home I think I'm going to lose it."

"I understand. Stay as long as you'd like."

Rose left a note at home for Nick telling him where she was just in case he came by, but she never heard from him. Winry could tell that pregnancy was really beginning to take its toll on Rose. Whenever she slept at night it was always in the nude, at first Winry thought it was because of the heat, but then she noticed that she was also rubbing her breasts under her clothes at random times, and then she would lock herself in her room and Winry would hear moaning.

"It's the hormones isn't it?" she asked as Rose was once again rubbing her breasts.

"I can't help it… I haven't seen my Nicky in over a month, it's so hot, and I just feel so… horny."

"Believe it or not, I might know just the thing to help with that." replied Winry getting up from her work table.

Rose waited while Winry got cleaned up, and then she came down with a couple towels.

"What are those for?"

"We're going swimming."

"Where? In the river?"

"Nope, I know a place much more suitable."

Amestris was nowhere near the ocean, and as far as Rose knew the only sizable source of water in the region was the Rain River, but as she and Winry made their way across the countryside she wasn't thinking about that. It hadn't felt so hot since the day she walked into the desert. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back and could feel her cheeks getting warmer by the minute. She wanted nothing more than to just slip out of the sleeveless dress she was wearing. Winry led her along until they came to the woods, they walked along a dirt road until they came to a group of rocks covered with foliage. A nearby tree was marked with the same symbol Rose remembered seeing on the back of Ed's jacket.

"Here we are." said Winry shifting some of the foliage and revealing a cave entrance.

"What is this place?"

"I've always wanted my own swimming pool, but it was never really in the budget. So I had the boys cook this place up with their alchemy."

After climbing down some stairs they came to a pool that was easily twenty meters long. As Winry lit the torches to illuminate the chamber she noticed that something was missing.

"We didn't bring any bathing suits."

"We won't need any; no one ever comes out here."

First Winry let her hair down, then Rose watched as she took her clothes off like it was the most natural thing in the world. Rose had never seen another woman naked before, that combined with the hormones her pregnancy was causing stirred a weird feeling in her. When Winry jumped into the pool and came up out of the water she looked like a beautiful mermaid.

"Aren't you going to join me?"

No matter how shy she may have been, Rose just couldn't stand it anymore. She slipped out of her dressed and kicked it aside.

"Motherhood suits you." said Winry "You look amazing."

"You think so?"

"Sure, come on in, the water's fine."

Rose and Winry spent the better part the next couple hours swimming, then they went outside to dry off in the sun.

"We've just spent the past few hours just playing around naked." said Winry.

"I feel so silly."

"I know, isn't it great? I just feel so at one with nature."

"You're positive no one ever comes out here?"

"No one. Now don't you feel better?"

"A little…"

"Don't worry, if he cares for you as much as you say he does, then he'll come back."

**(To be concluded)**


	4. Retirement

Rose stayed with Winry a for about two weeks, until the day Ed unexpectedly walked in when Winry was massaging Rose's breasts, because her impending motherhood was making them sore.

"Holy shit…"

"This isn't what it looks like!"

"… It's not?"

A second later Ed found a wrench in his forehead.

"And just why do you sound disappointed?!"

Rose just couldn't stand to be around a couple like Ed and Winry while she was still yet to hear from Nick. When she finally got home to Reole she found there was a whole vase of flowers waiting for her, along with a note.

_Rosey_

_I can understand that you're mad at me, and you have every right to be, but there's something I need you to understand. While I was out I was wounded, and spent the better part of the next month unconscious. When I finally came to I found that I had lost my left arm and eye. When I was finally done recovering I spent the rest of these past few weeks trying to figure out how to tell you. If you can still find it in your heart to love someone like me, meet me at our tree._

Rose was off like a light. The tree in question was the one where he once surprised her with a kiss. As soon as she saw him her heart almost skipped a beat. At first she was completely oblivious to the fact that he was missing an arm and wearing an eye patch, she just rushed up and kissed him.

"My god, I've been so worried about you! What happened?!"

"It didn't quite go according to plan to say the least. You don't want to know… but the good news is it gave me a lot of time to think about our relationship. I've been doing this little crusade a very long time… I think I've done my part, and I'm ready to settle down."

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that."

"Not to be rude but… have you gained weight?"

Rose pulled him close and whispered in his ear.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?!"

"This is why you need to give me a number to call."

"You don't need to worry about that anymore. I'm not going anywhere."

"Is your other arm fine?"

"Yes…"

"Good because I need you to do something for me."

"I do owe you dinner and a show."

"It can wait, right now I need something else."

Rose took Nick back to her place where she made him give her a full body massage. Having the man she loved tough her like that was enough to relieve even the tension brought about by pregnancy.

"Well done sir…"

"Motherhood really suits you."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Probably because it's true."

"It's too bad our child is going to have a father who has one arm and one eye."

"Well I don't know what to do about your eye, but I do know a good automail mechanic."

**(The End)**

**Okay I admit it, I didn't really try with this one. I just couldn't get the story out of my head, and by the time I got to this chapter I was running on fumes. I promise I'll try and make it up to you with my next fanfic.**


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